Skip to main content
USA TODAY 10 Best
  • Follow 10Best
  • Like 10Best
USA TODAY 10 Best
  • Home
  • Readers' Choice
  • Interests
  • Food & Drink
  • Arts & Culture
  • Travel Guides
search
  • Follow
  • Like
close
  • facebook share
  • twitter share
  • pinterest share
  • linkedin share
  • Flipboard
Advertisement
Advertisement
graphic

Also Recently Published

  • Your complete guide to pickleball and the coolest courts in the country
    Your complete guide to pickleball and the coolest courts in the country
    View This Article
  • From farmers markets to food halls, where are your favorite places to enjoy local food?
    From farmers markets to food halls, where are your favorite places to enjoy local food?
    View This Article
  • 10 delicious Thai dishes you absolutely must try that aren't pad thai
    10 delicious Thai dishes you absolutely must try that aren't pad thai
    View This Article
  • Feast your eyes on these 10 over-the-top desserts served at Las Vegas restaurants
    Feast your eyes on these 10 over-the-top desserts served at Las Vegas restaurants
    View This Article
  • All aboard! Get an exclusive look inside Princess Cruises' legendary Discovery Princess
    All aboard! Get an exclusive look inside Princess Cruises' legendary Discovery Princess
    View This Slideshow
Advertisement
 

— When you buy through a link on our site, 10Best may earn a commission. Our editors operate independently of affiliate relationships.

  • Food & Drink
  • //
  • Drinks

USA TODAY 10Best

How seefbier was saved – after it was nearly gone for good

It took an "Indiana Jones-like quest" to revive what was once one of the most popular beers in Belgium
Brad Japhe

November 24, 2018 // By Brad Japhe

By Brad Japhe
November 24, 2018

 

Once upon a time, Antwerp, Belgium was one of the most prolific beer-producing cities in all of Europe. Much of the region’s success was owed to an accessible style of ale known as seefbier. Made with buckwheat and characterized by its pleasant notes of coriander and clove, the local specialty was crafted by upwards of 100 breweries during its 19th-century heyday.

Advertisement

That all changed during the World Wars. German occupation crushed the industry and seefbier was almost lost forever. Almost.  

In 2012, an intrepid Belgian brewer named Johan van Dyck set out to resurrect the style. He launched Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie, hoping to position seefbier as a flagship offering. It proved to be an outsized task.

Advertisement
Advertisement

In addition to logistical hurdles in the present day, it involved a deep dive into history. "I stumbled upon the story of seef in a book about Antwerp’s brewing history," van Dyck recalls. "As a native, I was intrigued by the beer – this is what my ancestors must have enjoyed. I could not accept that the recipe would be lost forever."

Antwerpse Brouw CompagnieAntwerpse Brouw Compagnie — Photo courtesy of Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie

He embarked on what he calls an Indiana Jones-like quest for his holy grail. "I searched local archives, tracked down families that used to own a brewery in Antwerp, even met with old brewers [some of them in their 90s]." For a while, it felt like a futile pursuit; small breweries from the time period failed to keep records or notes on recipes. Scientific record was scant.

And then, a breakthrough. "I finally found a family who did have all their brewing recipes and records still intact. I finally had the original recipe. The treasure of other information I did track down – pictures, stories, anecdotes, letters, etc. – was also so rich that we bundled this into a new 300-page illustrated book."

Advertisement
Advertisement

Seefbier truckSeefbier truck — Photo courtesy of Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie

Armed with the actual formula, van Dyck was now faced with the challenge of faithfully replicating it. "Knowing how to brew is one thing, but accurately reviving an historical ale is something else," he points out.

"I had two major challenges. [The first was] yeast – I did know what characteristics were needed for the correct fermentation and aromas, but the exact yeast was obviously not included in the recipe. [The second was] the process: the recipe I found was a practical description from the late 1800s. As a brewer I needed the actual values of temperature, the speed at which the brewhouse heats the mash, etc., because all of this impacts flavors and aromas."

He could have made some calculated guesses to fill in the gaps, but in the spirit of honoring the past, he sought out professorial guidance. He didn’t have to travel far. The University of Leuven – about 40 miles south of Antwerp – is home to a faculty of brewing biochemists (it’s a real thing) and one of the leading beer consultancies on the planet.

Advertisement
Advertisement

"As I did have pictures and plans of the old brewhouse and a detailed description of their process, it was fairly easy for them to translate this into the actual [modernized brewing] values, since they knew this type of old brewhouse."  

As fate would have it, the University also kept in their vaults the historical Antwerp yeast used in local beer-making of the early 20th century. "With these issues resolved, we brewed seef for the first time in almost a century," van Dyck fondly remembers. "I instantly fell in love."

He wasn’t the only one. The beer has already racked up six gold medals in international competition, including at the World Beer Cup and the Global Craft Beer Awards. Part of its allure is the full-yet-rounded flavors it derives from a combination of malted and unmalted grains.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Pint of SeefbierPint of Seefbier — Photo courtesy of Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie

In addition to its buckwheat calling card, Seefbier blends in oat and wheat alongside the barley more traditional to everyday beer making. "Buckwheat is officially not even a 'grain,’'but a so-called pseudo-grain," explains van Dyck. "It brings a spice-like flavor and aroma to the beer that – if used correct – blends and marries perfectly with the yeast resulting in rich and surprising aromas."

But any other brewers that want to experiment with the resurrected style will have to come up with a different title for the label. Van Dyck now holds a trademark on the name.

Advertisement
Advertisement

So, if you’re sipping on official seefbier in the near future, you know it originated in its original home of Antwerp. There, at a newly constructed brewery in the industrial neighborhood of Eilandje, Van Dyck is hard at work, reconnecting the world to his city’s proud past, one batch of seefbier at a time.

x

Next Up

Your complete guide to pickleball and the coolest courts in the country

Read More »

Advertisement

Brad Japhe

About Brad Japhe

Read more about Brad Japhe here.


Share

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Flipboard
×

×
Advertisement
Advertisement
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • instagram
10Best logo 10Best logo
  • About 10Best
  • Experts & Contributors
  • Sitemap
  • Newsletter
  • Reprints & Permissions
  • Contact Us

  • Cookie Settings
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy

A division of USA TODAY · Copyright © 2023 www.10best.com. · All rights reserved.

incrementing counter